Apologies
by RedKetchup
Summary: Luffy really did it this time, he really made his brothers mad.


AU: In which Sabo is alive and Luffy has infuriated his brothers.

* * *

This time Luffy didn't make his brothers mad.

Nope! He made them furious. Like, _really super-duper_ angry.

Luffy pretended he was asleep a few times to avoid talking to them, but it didn't really work because Luffy is bad at acting says Sabo.

Luffy laughed at that, but then he clamped his mouth closed quickly at Sabo's glare.

Yep, Luffy had managed to make his brothers very angry.

Actually, a lot of the crew was mad at him too. The doctor was always snapping at him and telling him to stop fidgeting so much and to just suck it up and rest. Luffy didn't like that because he missed out on going to a new island because of that. Luffy had to be tied down at one point because he isn't good at listening and tried to go explore without permission.

The cook wouldn't cook him any big pieces of meat either! He'd only cook soup and some boring puddings, which would have been fine with Luffy if there had been more meat in these puddings, so Luffy asked if the cook would put meat in his pudding.

The answer was an annoyed no.

Anyway, Luffy had been banished to the infirmary for days on end, with no meat and no adventures. Although most of the crew were irritated with Luffy, some of them came to visit him and read him stories when they weren't busy. He liked that very much since it was boring being in the same room for so long.

...Also because his brothers and him were having trouble getting along currently.

Sabo visited him, don't get the story wrong or anything, but when his older brother did it was always tense and stressful. The elder brother would sit in a chair beside his bed or maybe even stand in the corner. Sabo had that calm attitude surrounding him that totally meant that he was really mad, and Luffy would just sit in his bed with his lips pursed and arms crossed. They would have small chit chat and pretend nothing was wrong, and it drove the younger of the two insane.

Luffy was too stubborn to do anything about it though...or to bring up the fact that Sabo had really dark circles under his eyes.

Nevertheless, Sabo's little interactions were more than what Ace has been doing. Ace just stopped coming into the infirmary altogether, leaving Luffy secretly desperate to see his oldest brother after days of no contact. He'd hear Ace give out orders from the deck or maybe a shout from the mess, but other than those few echoes of his voice there was nothing.

That was how Luffy knew Ace was extremely angry.

Ace wasn't the kind to just leave things that way. He was brash and bitter when he was mad. He yelled and hit and snarled or whatever. He would do one of the previous when Luffy was reckless, and then maybe he would ignore him for a few hours. Never before has Ace completely blocked Luffy out like this except back in the days when they were two little boys, one chasing the other through a big and dangerous jungle.

...Luffy was starting to feel lonely.

* * *

It had started on a quiet day. The kind where you can feel something in the air and tell when something is going to happen. Luffy had been overly rambunctious all day, tripping and falling on his knees or his face. He'd bounce right back up, though, and continue with his destructive path.

Sabo had given about six amused yet exasperated sighs within twenty minutes. Seriously, Luffy counted. Ace had just laughed or punched his little brother over the head in annoyance.

Luffy counted three punches, just like there were three brothers. Get it?

Except Luffy had gotten all three of the blows which wasn't fair in his opinion.

So as it was the day had been slow and quiet, with the youngest of the three captains being the exception. Lunch had been especially delicious and one of the crew members helped him catch a really big sea king.

Yes, it was a good day.

Then in the later afternoon a storm was lazily crawling in above their heads. Luffy was thrilled, excited for a sudden change of weather and hoping for something fun to happen.

The teen got his wish when an enemy ship arrived.

The fighting was refreshing, allowing the seabound crew to release pent up energy and to finally have something to do. The enemy was not difficult to beat at all with the weak underlings and about five decent enough fighters. The three captains of course chose one of the stronger ones to fight, leaving their own crew to deal with the rest.

Yes, Luffy thought, it had been a _veryveryvery_ good day.

Luffy had chased and fought his opponent all the way down to the enemy ship's holding area. It was dark and required some effort to see. The man wasn't difficult though, and within minutes he was crumpled and laying in a mess of overturned crates. Some sticks spilled out one of the boxes and piled onto the man. Luffy thought he looked like a baka.

"Teme...!" the man croaked pitifully.

Luffy heard footsteps coming down the stairs from behind him, so he turned to be greeted with his brothers' relaxed and sweaty faces. Luffy knew he shouldn't have turned his back since in the Grand Line if anyone has even the slightest chance left to fight many would take it. It was a way of living that almost everyone had to adjust to, and it so happened that the man crumpled behind him was one of them. He even saw the man moving to attack as he turned away, but for whatever reason Luffy had been compelled to be especially reckless for the moment.

It had been a simple and reckless decision on Luffy's part. Just one little slip up.

Faux pas, it was a funny word one of the crew members taught Luffy a long time ago. Luffy mixed the two words around sometimes, since it was such a boring statement, but it had two syllables. Two claps for two syllables.

Faux pas! Faux pas! Luffy thinks it means something for silly people or something. He wasn't quite sure, but he thinks that it would be cool to name a bird Faux Pas.

Maybe Luffy should call the guy he had beaten up Faux Pas, because he didn't really like that guy. C'mon, you wouldn't like a guy who stabbed you when you were turned around either, would you?

Oh yeah! The sticks that had fell on Faux Pas guy weren't sticks in the end either! They were Kairoseki staffs, and they really hurt. Especially if one is pushed through your stomach.

Luffy got to laugh weakly before he tilted sideways and everything went black.

The rubber teen never did like seastone weapons.

* * *

Luffy didn't like the yelling that he was greeted with the first few minutes he woke up. His head felt heavy and his stomach was in agonizing pain. The doctor said he had a bad fever too.

So why the hell was there so much noise?

"You're too damn reckless, Luffy!" Ace had snarled, his face red and angry.

Luffy was feeling really dizzy, and so when Ace's face was so red he looked like a strawberry. His freckles would be the seeds.

Luffy laughed.

Ace blew up. He screamed and shouted, he threw a finger in Luffy's face and demanded answers to questions that were too fast for the little brother to answer. The doctor tried calming Ace down but when someone tries to calm the eldest brother down when he's that mad he just get's even louder. That led to the doctor getting loud, which just hurt Luffy's ears.

Sabo suddenly appeared, and Luffy didn't even notice him until then. The blond put himself between the doctor and Ace, and firmly told them to calm down. Ace opened his mouth to snarl something but Sabo got this angry look in his eyes. Ace looked at him for a few more moments, his mouth curled down in a bitter frown.

Luffy decided that everything was quiet enough to go back to sleep.

* * *

The best part out of Luffy's injury was that he got to eat ice cream. Lots of it.

His stomach was too hurt to eat anything solid the Doc had said. That was fine with the young captain, he'd be alright with ice cream for now.

Sabo came in an hour after Luffy had his eighth bowl and stood in the doorway awkwardly, like he didn't know whether he should come in or not.

Doc got up and left, knowing it was supposed to be a private moment. That convinced Sabo to come in.

Luffy smiled, the scar under his eye stretching, and patted the spot beside him. Sabo lazed over and flopped down gently on the bed, stretching his legs out beside Luffy's.

Luffy put his head on his older brother's shoulder. Sabo relaxed into the pillows and sighed tiredly.

"I made Sabo and Ace mad," Luffy pouted in a confused tone.

Sabo patted his head carefully.

"That's because you're a baka."

"Ace can be a baka too, you know," he argued angrily.

"...Yeah, but at least he doesn't get impaled by something that could have been prevented," Sabo returned.

Luffy was feeling irritated, and he didn't wanna feel irritated. He was too tired for that.

"I didn't die, so nothing's wrong," he stubbornly fought back.

"Well you could have so stop acting like it's nothing when it is something," Sabo snapped curtly.

Luffy pulled his head back to glare at the blond.

"Stop treating me like a kid. You two are overreacting," he feels really mad now.

Sabo turns to face his little brother and he is just as angry.

"You need to stop acting like a brat for us to stop treating you like one."

Luffy's opening his mouth to snap back but the Doc decides to come back at this time and asks Sabo to leave so he can let Luffy rest.

Luffy huffs and turns his back to the two angrily, pulling the blanket over his head.

Sabo never yells, he only reasons. Ace is the one that yells.

* * *

One of Luffy's really good friends in the crew, Usopp, comes in to visit him one morning.

They had picked Usopp up from his island two years ago, back when they were just leaving East Blue. He was one of Luffy's picks, one of the first ones to join the crew. Luffy's happy to see him since he hasn't been having a good past few days.

Usopp sits down in a chair and asks how he's feeling. Luffy just gives him an mopey look in answer. Usopp laughs.

They play cards for a bit, and Usopp tells this awesome story about how he saved an island from a giant jellyfish. Luffy was so into the story he just stopped playing cards after a while so he could listen.

The story ends with Usopp earning a bronze statue as a reward from the island and with the jellyfish conquered. Luffy has stars in his eyes.

"Sugoi Usopp! You're so cool."

Usopp puffs his chest out in pride at that words. He smiles at Luffy before he gets a serious look in his eyes.

"Neh, Luffy, you and the other captains been fighting, right?" he says.

Luffy frowns miserably.

"I dunno why. They're just being stupid," he pouts.

Usopp is quiet for a little bit before he says what's on his mind.

"I think that they are just really worried for you, because you could have died and they would have felt really guilty."

Luffy laughs so much his stomach starts to hurt badly.

"Why would they feel guilty?" he giggles, wiping the tears from his eyes.

"Well...because you could have died?" Usopp repeats rather lamely. Luffy just smiles.

"Also because they don't think it is as funny as you do. What if it was one of them sitting here instead of you?" Usopp offers instead.

Luffy blinks at that. Usopp looks triumphant at the sudden change of attitude. They sit there for a little bit, the atmosphere a bit heavier.

"...Wanna go steal some ice cream from the fridge?" Usopp attempts to lighten the mood.

Luffy brightens right away.

"Sanji and the other cooks will be mad, ya know," Usopp warns as they sneak out of the infirmary.

Luffy just snickers.

* * *

Luffy left the infirmary in the middle of the night. It was cold outside, so he shivers and rubs his arms to try to warm up.

He sees a dark-haired head sticking out of the crow's nest up above.

Luffy chooses to slowly climb up instead of using his arms to rocket himself there, since his stomach hurts and he could make it worse with his rough landings.

It's long and tedious, but when he finally reaches the top he is glad because Ace is there.

He clambers over inside, only to trip and land on his face with an 'Oomph!'.

Ace turns in surprise.

"I thought you were one of the crew, since you're the only one who doesn't use the correct way to get up here," he says.

Luffy lifts his head up off the floor and grins. Ace doesn't return the grin.

"Go back to bed, you'll make your condition worse," he dismisses, turning back around to stare out at the ocean below them.

Luffy frowns.

"I'm almost better, though! I even ate some meat today."

Ace grunts.

Luffy crawls over to his brother and leans against him, feeling his warmth seep through his thin vest.

"...I'm sorry I made you mad," Luffy mumbles into Ace's side.

Ace doesn't answer for a long time, so Luffy just let's himself get sleepy and feel warm. The fact that his older brother didn't push him away was a good sign so far.

"You were too reckless. Even for being the weakling of us three you should know better," Ace's voice finally jolts Luffy from his doze. Luffy rubs his eyes.

"Yeah, 'M sorry," he slurs, letting himself lean more into his brother.

Ace sighs but brings an arm up to wrap around his little brother's shoulders. Luffy breathes out happily.

"Your turn now," Luffy yawns.

Ace blinks and looks down to the other in confusion.

"What?"

"It's your turn to apologize now," Luffy raises his head to look at Ace, his eyes half-lidded.

Ace whacks him on the side of the end.

"What the hell do you mean my turn?!" he snaps, offended.

Luffy whacks him back on the arm. He knew that if he wasn't injured then they probably would have started wrestling.

"You hafta apologize for feeling guilty, it's not fair."

Ace had his arm raised to whack him again, but he lowered it at Luffy's words.

The freckled man observed the younger brother carefully for a minute.

"Tsk, yeah right. Now shut up and get some sleep would ya?"

Luffy smiled and leaned snugly against Ace.

"Mm!"

Sabo found them two hours later, when it was his turn for watch. He stared for a moment before chuckling a bit. He placed himself down on the other side of Luffy and looked up at the star-filled sky.

It really was a good night.


End file.
